Courtesy of Hoda Kotb/Instagram
Today’s Hoda Kotb Attends High School Reunion With Youngest Daughter Hope: ‘It Was So Cool’
Hoda Kotb headed back to school! The Today host attended her high school reunion this past weekend. She brought a very special guest along with her — her youngest daughter, Hope.
The broadcaster was one of the many alumni of Fort Hunt High School in Alexandria, Virginia, who returned to commemorate the school’s 60th anniversary. Hoda, 59, received the honor of being the keynote speaker at the event.
“It was so fun. And at the end, I was telling a story about how I was a late bloomer in high school and a late bloomer in life and all the best things in my life happened after 50,” she told Jenna Bush Hager during an episode of Today on Monday, October 2.
Having Hope, 4, join her at the event was a full-circle moment for Hoda, who loved chatting with her former classmates.
The New York Times bestselling author continued, “I said one of the best calls I ever got in my life was when the phone rang and it was the adoption agency and I didn’t know what a birth felt like,” adding, “I’ve never given birth to a child, but when you get a phone call and you listen and I said, ‘Hello,’ and the woman on the other end at the adoption agency said, ‘She’s here.’ And I thought, ‘She’s here.’”
Hoda welcomed Hope via surrogate in April 2019 with her then-fiancé, Joel Schiffman. The former couple are also parents to daughter Haley, who was born via surrogate in February 2017. While Haley, 6, was not at the event, there’s no denying Hoda’s love for her girls.
“And so, when I was at my reunion, I said, ‘And she’s here.’ Little Hope came buzzing up on the stage, not afraid of anything, wearing my old high school cheerleading uniform,” the mom of two reflected on her high school reunion. “Anyway, it was a fun, fun weekend. I got to see old friends. It was so cool.”
The newscaster also explained that her former classmates were all huge fans of Jenna, 41.
“Oh, they asked about you a thousand times, you’re very popular,” Hoda told her costar. “They’re like, ‘How’s Jenna? How’s Jenna?’ I’m like, ‘Jenna’s good, let’s get back to me though.'”
The appearance with Hope came seven months after the little one was hospitalized due to an illness.
“My youngest, Hope, was in the ICU for a few days and in the hospital for a little more than a week,” Hoda told Today viewers in March. “I’m so grateful she’s home. She is back home. I was waiting for that day to come. And we are watching her closely. I’m just so happy.”
